Stella blinked in and out of the spatial plane as fast as the spatial Qi could flow through her spirit roots. Her mind was tranquil and calm due to her bloodline, but her body was struggling to keep up. Her Star Core burned fiercely in her chest, and her Qi-enhanced muscles ached as she deflected a needle of silver from piercing her brain with her sword in a shower of sparks and a terrible scraping sound that howled in her ear.

If not for Ash drowning the whole city in spatial Qi, I would have run out and likely died by now. There's just no end to these bounty hunters.

"Girl, you sure are good at running away," the silver-haired man wearing a jade mask clicked his tongue as he casually redirected the needle of silver to chase her. He was one of the jade sentinels sent to fight with them, and so far, he had been the most motivated. Stella wasn't sure how to describe it, but until now, every bounty hunter had held back as if trying to contribute the bare minimum to the battle and preserve their Qi.

Once they got slightly injured, they ran away instead of fighting to the death like normal cultivators. This was bizarre and confusing because if they had combined their strength, Stella, Diana, and the Redclaws would have been long overrun. There were simply too many of them.

What the hell is their goal? Stella wondered as she vanished into the spatial plane and did a longer-range teleport to reappear above Diana. Her ears popped as a wave of wind hit her, and she saw what appeared to be a cloaked person soaring toward the ground like a meteor. Once the person ate the dirt below, throwing up a plume of dust, a portal opened overhead, and black vines dragged the body elsewhere.

"There goes... another... one." Diana panted as she lowered the fist that had just sent the person flying. Blood dripped from her claws, and war scars painted her once beautiful feathered wings.

Diana looked a mess, and she wasn't the only one.

The Redclaw family fiercely fighting in the distance weren't much better off, and Stella was nursing a few deep cuts and torn clothes herself. This battle had been so brutal for all of them that Stella believed it was a genuine miracle that nobody had died yet.

Seeing Diana's condition, Stella hated asking for help, but the squirrel sleeping on her head had offered little assistance thus far. "Diana, could you help me out with a metal cultivator?"

Diana flapped her ruined wings to ascend to Stella's height, "The Jade Sentinel over there?" she tilted her head, "Why do they look familiar?"

"Mhm, I know what you mean. The silver hair and metal affinity remind me of the Silverspires, but I don't believe it's one of Ryker's siblings. They were sent to cities within the Blood Lotus Sect to begin the mutiny against the Patriarch, so they shouldn't be here in the Tainted Cloud Sect," Stella mused while using Qi to mask her voice. "But the Silverspire family has connections to the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion despite the pavilion being banned from the Blood Lotus Sect, so there's a decent chance that person could be from the Silverspire family."

Diana hummed in thought as she pushed her demonic mist Qi into the surroundings to obscure them. "Should we do something about it?" she suggested as they took a moment to rest and eat Ash's fruits. "We have close ties with the family, and they might not appreciate us killing one of their people in another sect."

Stella shrugged, "Food for Tree is food for Tree. I don't care what family he is from or his reasons. He almost killed me a moment ago, and he dares to try and get past us to hurt Ash, so he deserves what's coming."

"Right," Diana sighed, clearly too exhausted to argue. "Open a portal near him, and I will follow you" Diana twisted her body as a moonbeam tore through her demonic mist, creating a tunnel through the fog that allowed Stella to see the source. A group of Lunarshade Elders had suddenly appeared behind them.

What in the nine realms is going on? I thought Ashlock was dealing with these guys. Stella gripped her sword tightly and bit her lip. This isn't good. The bounty hunters were already bad enough, but all of these Elders are as strong as me and are radiating far more killing intent. Unlike the bounty hunters, these guys are here to kill.

Stella suddenly had a sinking feeling in her stomach. If these Elders were here, that could only mean one thing. Narrowing her eyes, she looked past the floating Lunarshade Elders, who stood arrogantly on their swords and were bathed in moonlight to confirm her fears.

"Willow?" Stella uttered in horror as she saw the titan of moonlight rip the spirit tree from the Bastion and hold it overhead. A sickening crunch was heard throughout the land as the tree was torn in half and its soul flames extinguished. With it, Ashlock's blanketing presence faded, and Stella felt the dense spatial Qi in the air begin to disperse.

Stella's mouth opened and closed several times as she failed to articulate what she had just witnessed. Eventually, all she managed to mutter in disbelief was, "Tree lost?"

Logically, she knew Willow was one of Ash's many offspring, so the tree dying didn't mean Ash had lost, but emotionally, she was shaken. Whether it be Ash or his offspring, the fading of Ash's presence on the battlefield broke her spirit, and she felt her bloodline retract and her calmness wash away, replaced with terror and confusion.

"Don't." Diana grabbed her arm.

"But we need to"

"Get a hold of yourself," Diana shook her, "What will rushing over there do other than get yourself killed? Do you think these Lunarshade Elders will simply let you pass?"

"No, but..."

"Even if they did, that man is in the Nascent Soul Realm. He can squash you like a bug even with your bloodline."

Stella ground her teeth. Diana was right; it was suicidal to try to save Willow and restore Ash's presence on the battlefield, but what was she supposed to do now? Without my bloodline and Ash's spatial Qi, I am crippled.

It was looking bad. Really bad. Larry was missing, the Bastion and Willow were destroyed, as was Geb in the distance. The families under Duskwalker, including the cult of the All-Seeing Eye, were being suppressed by a single cultivator. Stella couldn't even rush over and help if she wanted to because enemies surrounded them on all fronts.

"Tree..." Stella whispered as her heart pounded in her chest, "What should I do? How can we win?"

A warming presence bloomed in her mind, "Are you losing faith in me?"

Stella's eyes widened. How could she have lost faith in Ash? He had always been her firmly rooted tree in this life and rarely let her down. Why should she doubt him now?

"I would never." Stella controlled her breathing and brought her turbulent emotions under control. She had relied too heavily on her bloodline to keep her calm in situations like this, and from her bloodline, she knew how important keeping a cool head was.

"Good. Believe it or not, I have everything under control." Ash reassured her, "Leave everything to me."

Stella looked at the tree that had bloomed in her consciousness. That unwavering confidence made the tree in her mind take on a more impressive form as he loomed overhead and protected her from the heavens under his vast canopy.

I am safe under him. Stella thought and smiled.

"What did you have in mind?" Diana quickly asked as the Lunarshade Elders began preparing to attack again. If not for the demonic mist protecting them, the Elders likely would have teleported right next to them and cut off their heads.

***

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Ashlock had a reason for his confidence. His attention was split between many things, and his vision constantly blurred as he shifted between Red Vine Peak and different locations on the battlefield, so unlike Stella, he had a better view of the overall state of the battle.

Although most of his Ents, and now his Bastion, had perished, leaving him with fewer chess pieces to work with, not all hope was lost. The Lunarshade side had also taken heavy losses, with multiple Elders dead and Albis Lunarshade's corpse piled up with many others on Red Vine Peak waiting to be devoured. No matter what, he intended to avenge his fallen offspring and Ents, but now wasn't the time to get emotional.

"I just need to find a way to deal with the Lunarshade Grand Elder, and then everything else will fall into place," Ashlock mused as he focused on securing a victory.

Luckily, the Lunarshade Grand Elder had become infected with his cursed blood.

His mutations, such as his cursed blood and demonic eye, weren't transferred to his offspring, but when the Lunarshade Grand Elder stomped on the Bastion, he destroyed Ashlock's roots wrapped around the Bastion's core, which caused his cursed blood to seep into the man's avatar.

Ashlock had expected the Grand Elder to quickly purge the cursed blood, but that had not happened so far. Instead, the man seemed profoundly concerned by the blood spreading through his avatar and stumbled about while shaking his foot.

"The only thing that has changed since the last time my cursed blood infected someone is that I formed a Chaos Nebula in my soul and became recognized as a divine being by the heavens. Does that mean my cursed blood is now divine as well?" Ashlock wondered but didn't have time to investigate it further. Every moment in this battle counted, and his sect members' lives were at risk.

It would be difficult, but as long as he played to his strengths as a spatial cultivator capable of fighting proxy battles, he saw a path to victory.

"Diana, you trust me, right?" Ashlock asked the demoness in response to her question.

She nodded, "I do."

"There's no time to explain but bait the Elders into your demonic mist."

Diana grimaced at the suggestion, as it was the one thing keeping them alive. But against all logic, she complied and began widening the tunnel the moonbeam had carved out.

Ashlock's view shifted back to Red Vine Peak, where he had evacuated the wounded. Elaine was sitting under a bench, enjoying Sol's healing light. It was so peaceful here compared to the chaos occurring many miles away in Nightshade City. Well, if one were to ignore the giant blazing tree shaking the mountain. But what was he supposed to do about that?

"Ready to feast, Larry?" Ashlock asked his Nascent Soul Realm summon that he had barely managed to save from being incinerated by that moonbeam.

The ash spider was a tenth of his size at the start of the battle, but through decay, he could quickly regain his strength.

"I would be honored to fight again, Master," Larry replied gruffly, "And I must protect Mistress Stella."

"Good, act fast while the Lunarshade Grand Elder is distracted by my cursed blood," Ashlock said as he created a portal. He wasn't sure how long the Grand Elder would be distracted by the cursed blood and the random ominous sentences and visions he was spewing into the man's mind.

Larry gave the best bow he could muster before floating through the portal. His silver-ashen body shimmered under the moonlight, and his glowing red eyes made him seem like a celestial grim reaper as he descended upon the Lunarshade Elders who had teleported inside Diana's demonic mist.

"Without moonlight, how do you plan to teleport away from Larry?" Ashlock sneered at these fools as the tunnel through the demonic mist closed up, leaving them trapped inside with a very hungry spider.

***

Stella gasped as she used both hands on her sword hilt to block an overhead swing from one of the Lunarshade Elders. The sheer force of the attack made her already exhausted arms quiver and knocked the wind out of her lungs. She plummeted through the demonic mist that burned her skin and reacted violently with her flickering Qi.

Diana followed a moment later, spiraling downward with her tattered wings wrapped around her body as if she had used them to shield herself from an attack. Blood mixed with demonic mist trailed her as she fell, and her face was twisted in pain.

Stella's heart twisted at the sight of her friend being so heavily injured. This whole war started because of me. It's all my faultseeing something glint in the moonlight heading straight for Diana, Stella surged her spatial Qi and hopped through the spatial plane. Barely making it in time, she blocked a flurry of silver needles from impaling Diana with her bare hand.

Diana spread out her wings and caught herself from falling any further. "Are you alright?" she asked with concern as she glided over and eyed her up and down.

"Sort of," Stella winced in pain as she looked down at three silver spikes emerging from the back of her hand. She gripped them tightly and could feel their connection to someone else. Following the direction of the Qi, she saw the silver-haired man flying toward them, and he had a few other Jade Sentinels in tow.

"Are you from the Silverspire family?" Stella said casually as she hid her injured hand behind her back. She had to buy some time, as neither of them was in good enough condition to face off against five Jade Sentinels at peak condition, especially without her bloodline and Ash's presence.

The man paused, and so did the others, "So what if I am?"

"We work closely with the Silverspire family," Stella gestured to herself and Diana. "Fighting here is not in your family's best interests."

The man scoffed, "You are members of the Ashfallen Sect, isn't that right? I would know if we had dealings with a sect with such a name, but I have never heard of you"

"Are you not participating in the mutiny?" Stella said causally, tilting her head.

The Silverspire man went deathly silent for a moment. "How much do you know."

"Enough," Stella replied with as much confidence as she could muster. In her mind, she was begging Ash to hurry up with his plan. "If you lay a finger on me, your Grand Elder will have your head once he emerges from closed-door cultivation."

Once again, the man fell silent. A stream of silver spiraled around his body, and its constantly shifting speed and direction mirrored the man's turbulent internal thoughts.

"Who is your main contact within the family?" The man eventually asked.

I can't say it's Ryker or Sebastian, and I don't know anyone else in the family. Stella's eyes darted between the Jade Sentinels present. "Do you trust these people enough for me to openly disclose such information?"

"No..."

"Then come closer." Stella began gathering all the Qi she had left toward her hand behind her back, impaled by the silver spikes. The metal Qi helped mask the gathering of spatial Qi to her finger. "I have no Qi left to mask my voice from so far."

The man seemed to eye her suspiciously through his mask as the silver flowing around his body retracted and began to flow more defensively. "Fine," he floated closer until he was within strike range. His hand rested on the pummel of a sheathed sword, and he clearly had his guard up. "Now tell me, who is it."

Ryker has six siblings, so there should be at least three branch families, right?

"The third Elder," Stella replied.

"Really?" the man seemed surprised.

"Yeah...?" Stella had no idea what she was saying.

"What's the third Elder's name?"

Stella bit her lip behind her mask, "He's a very secretive man when it comes to outsiders, so he used a clearly fake name when speaking with us."

The man nodded, "That's true. Third Elder had always been a sly old man. Though, he should have given you a seal so we can recognize each other."

Chance!

"Oh! How could I have forgotten about it," Stella reached forward and showed her palm, "But first, could you remove these spikes? They are interfering with my spatial rings, so I can't take out the seal."

"Sure," the man reached forward to take the spikes out of her handStella rammed her finger into his chest and used an inferior version of the Supreme Nirvana Finger technique that she pieced together from her fading memories of it.

In an explosion of spatial Qi that made reality ripple, the Silverspire man was thrown backward. Some of his flowing silver was consumed to block the attack, but he was otherwise unharmed.

"You bitch," the man roared out, "I don't know how you came across that information, but you dare lie to me." His flowing silver condensed into thousands of needles, and the other Jade Sentinels floating at his side decided to join the fight.

"Um Tree..." Stella looked up at the demonic mist cloud above, "A little help?"

I have tried my best to buy time. Surely Ash doesn't expect me to fight off these people, too?

"Mistress, sorry I am late." A voice thundered from above. The demonic fog parted to reveal an ashen maw of silver large enough to devour an entire pavilion and glowing red eyes like miniature suns. The crown of horns atop his head radiated divinity, and the halo of ash orbiting it carried an immense presence that descended upon everyone as Larry dove down.

"Larry!" Stella shouted with glee. She had never been so happy to see her Father's guardian.

The storm of silver ash surged down and rushed around Stella as Larry used his body to protect her and Diana from the barrage of silver needles heading her way. He then went after the Jade Sentinels, catching two of them in his maw. As they crumbled into silver dust, his body and pressure grew.

Stella looked up and saw a lack of Lunarshade Elders.

"Looks like Larry had a feast," Diana said with a sigh of relief and wrapped her hand around Stella's shoulder.

Stella helped hold up her wounded friend and returned a smile. "Sure looks like it."

"You two can head back now," Tree said, and a rift appeared leading back to Red Vine Peak. "You both did great."

"It's over?" Stella asked in confusion.

"No, but Larry and Kaida can handle the rest alongside the Redclaws. Even if we win or lose, the fact you two are safe is more important to me."

Stella felt warmth in her heart and was surprised at Ash's words. "Kaida is joining the fight? I thought that lazy snake did nothing but read and hiss at people."

"Yeah, the Grand Elder won't know what hit him. Kaida has been working with Quill to incorporate dozens of techniques into his scales. He should have enough firepower to nuke the Grand Elder out of existence."

Stella wasn't sure what a nuke was, but it sounded powerful. Heading through the portal while shouldering Diana, who was limping. They both blinked in surprise when the Silverspire man's body fell at their feet through another portal with one of Ashlock's swords rammed through his chest.